"Making every death a public affair"

Clara. Yes, prison kills. According to Swiss federal statistics, there were 20 deaths in prison in 2023, of which eight were suicides. These figures count the number of people, but death can be understood in a much broader sense. Prison is synonymous with economic death, death of health, death of emotional relationships, love, friendships. Prison is the death of all sorts of things that will kill you figuratively, if not literally. All this is impossible to quantify. In Switzerland, the official purpose of prison is reintegration. Having failed at this goal, this policy’s sole function is to punish by destroying. Prisoners and their families are deeply affected by their time in prison. For many, incarceration is extremely violent. Contrary to popular belief, the mortality rate in Swiss prisons is very high, particularly the suicide rate. Switzerland is one of the 10 European countries where prisoners kill themselves the most, a sign that prison is indeed killing them.

 Denise Delours. In France, the central prison administration does not disclose the number of people who die in prison. Thanks to our networks, our group estimates about 100 deaths per year. This number includes prisoners who die of illness, often in hospital, and those who commit suicide, meaning that a lot of people die in prison. But the answer needs to be qualified: people who are fragile and likely to have suicidal thoughts can benefit from special consideration during their imprisonment. Many testimonials underline the fact that although the time spent in prison is deadly, the aftermath can be just as deadly, both for prisoners and their loved ones.

DD. For the past 16 years, we have been organising a public tribute each year in France. We list the number of people who have died, along with the names of those we are aware of. We often only know their age or where they were imprisoned. These moments are interspersed with testimonials from association members, prison staff or relatives. Then, in a symbolic gesture, we place a flower in a vase for each prisoner. These ceremonies help humanise those who have died. This year, it will take place in late spring in a square in Paris and will last about an hour and a half.

We do not advocate on behalf of the collective, but each member association obviously advocates for the improvement of prison conditions. Questioning death in prison also means questioning life in prison. Nevertheless, it is difficult to mobilise people around death in prison, which often seems a marginal phenomenon compared to other aspects of life in prison. We regularly suggest that the prison administration, which is aware of the problem, launch a debate on the issue of suicides, but to no avail. Between prison chaplains, staff, psychologists and doctors, plenty of information could be collected and discussed with a view to proposing concrete action, but this is not being done. The word “death” is taboo in prison; it is not uttered, even though suicide also affects prison guards. We raised the question of the connection between staff and prisoner suicides and the impact of the prison system but received a very negative response. The administration does not seem to understand why we are asking this question.

We find it difficult to stir media interest in this subject: we regularly approach the national and local press without success. There is no desire or willingness to talk about it, as opposed to the deaths of people on the streets, for example.

C. We created the Instagram account “La Prison Tue” (Prison kills). There, we share information whenever we identify someone who has died in prison. We add the name of the prison and the prisoner’s age if known. We chose Instagram because it is the platform most viewed by the younger generations, and more and more organisations, especially public ones, are active on it. We are currently creating a website that will enable us to deliver more diverse content and reach a wider audience. The aim of this project is to raise awareness and, in general, to fight imprisonment.

We also publish information on deaths in other detention locations. We have sadly found that public interest is completely different when it comes to people who have died in prison. Publications about deaths in police custody receive considerably more attention and likes. The public imagination is still lulled by the illusion that death in prison is deserved because of the offence committed. This vision is totally wrong, since these people are generally awaiting trial. And even when they are tried, they are not sentenced to death. But reason does not seem to dispel this misconception: once you are in prison, you deserve to die.

DD. For a few years, we had ties with the French prison administration that enabled us to gather information, but this is no longer the case. The administration has closed in on itself on many issues. In my opinion, this is a sign that it is not doing well: there are more and more people incarcerated and not enough staff. We are now getting information in other ways, through our various networks. Names are collected manually, one by one. It is very imperfect, but at this time, we do not have a better option.

C. Our main source is the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), which publishes an annual report on deaths in Swiss prisons. We also rely on press releases from government departments and canton police forces. Each canton has its own organisation and practices, so we must look for data in different places to estimate national figures. We also find information via the press, court rulings when a prison has been prosecuted, or through the testimonies of those who have lost a family member. But nothing is automatic or transparent, which complicates our data collection work. The FSO does not disclose its methodology, for example. It states that it takes into consideration 89 prisons, including, according to the description, police custody facilities, i.e. police stations. However, there are far more than 89 police stations in Switzerland. So, we do not really know whether people who die in police custody are included in the overall picture. What’s more, the FSO’s figures do not always match our own open source figures. We are calling for greater transparency, of course, but also for more accessible information, especially for the public. The aim is for every death to be communicated openly and become a public affair. The point of communication is not simply to say that there has been a death, but that everyone should be able to understand where it happened, who the person was and what happened. We are asking authorities to take responsibility.